Robert Page warns Wales of Euro 2020 opponents Turkey’s threat

Wales boss Robert Page has warned that Euro 2020 opponents Turkey are a lot better than their opening scoreline with Italy suggested.

Turkey were brushed aside 3-0 by Italy on the tournament’s first night in Rome, offering Wales real hope that they can claim their first win of Euro 2020 in Baku on Wednesday.

But Turkey came into the competition on the back of a six-game unbeaten run and were highly fancied by many to do well at Euro 2020.

“We’ve not just watched their game against Italy, we’ve watched games going back over recent months,” said interim manager Page, whose Wales side began the tournament with a 1-1 draw against Switzerland.

“The personnel has changed, but we’re up against a very good team.

“We’ve identified where they are good but it stops there, because we look at ourselves and we’ve got players who can hurt teams.”

Skipper Gareth Bale and playmaker Aaron Ramsey both had quiet opening games in the heat of Baku on Saturday.

It was left to a combination from the Sky Bet Championship to rescue Wales a point as Luton midfielder Joe Morrell crossed for Cardiff striker Kieffer Moore to head home the equaliser.

Page said: “We’ve got a game plan we want to stick to, one that we think can cause Turkey problems.

“Any opposing manager that looks at that team sheet is going to respect what we’ve got out there and can pose them a threat.

“We got off to a positive start to get a point. To fall behind against a very good Swiss team – there’s a lot of positives to come out of that.

“In tournament football you have to find a way to win and we’ve shown we can do that.

“Turkey probably looked at the fixtures coming into the tournament and saw they had a very difficult opener against the favourites Italy.

“They’d be looking at our game to get the three points, and we’re fully prepared for that.

“But we’ll be going for the win, and if you get four points from two games, it sets us up nicely.”